Copyholder



June 8, 1948.

C. G. HOOVER COPY HOLDER Filed Jan. 11, 1945 IN VEN TOR. 624/2 6? HM&

Patented June 8, 194g o STATES PATENT err-ice COPYHOLDER Clair G. Hoover, Akron, Ohio Appiication January 11, 1945, Serial No. 572,341

y 3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to devices for holding a sheet or" written or printed matter while it is being copied.

Its chief objects are to provide an improved copy-holder adapted to .be readily mounted upon a typewriter at a desirable position; to provide in an improved manner for automatically feeding the sheet to bring a new line of copy into view each time the typewriter platen is stepped forward for thetyping of the new line; toprovide a copy holder which can be mounted on the typewriter by simply setting it in place and can be removed by merely lifting it; to provide conveniently for changing the device from automatic feed to hand feed and vice versa, with the device conveniently positioned upon the typewriter; to provide a desirable copy-holder adapted to be mounted. either upon a typewriter or upon a fiat surface such as that of a desk or table; and to provide simplicity and economy of construction.

Further and more specific objects will be manifest in the following description.

Of the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, with parts broken away and sectioned on line I--l of Fig. 2, of a copy-holder embodying my invention in its preferred form, with a fragmentary showing of adjacent parts of a typewriter upon which it is mounted.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the same copyholder mounted upon a flat-surfaced support, which is shown in section.

Referring to the, drawings, the specific embodiment of my invention which is here shown, but to which my claims are not wholly limited, comprises a trough-like casing or cradle l0, preferably of metal or other low-friction material, and preferably of U-shape in cross-section as shown. The trough ID has end-walls II, II each of which extends a little below the body of the trough and has a permissibly straight lower edge formed with a shallow notch I2 and a deeper notch I3, the pair of shallow notches I2 and, alternatively, the deeper notches I3, being adapted to receive the paperbail bar I4 of the typewriter, for support of the trough at different elevations in relation to the bar. Also, the notches I2 are at a greater distance from the body of the trough than are the notches I3, for a reason which will be made clear later herein.

Each end-wall H of the trough or casing is formed with an aperture in which is mounted a hollow rivet I5 which serves as a pivot for a rearwardly projecting arm I6 having its hub portion i insert 22. The rivets l5 serve as thrust-bearings lying fiat-wise against the outer iace oi: the endangular positions. in relation to the casing, each of the arms I5 is formed-with astamped .detent I8 adapted to .be enga dinone oranother-of an arcuate series of stamped dimples l9, I9 formed in :the adjacent end-wall I-I.

Mounted loosely in the trough I6 is a copyholding and feeding roll 20 having a rubber or other high-friction surface. Mounted in each end of the'w-ooden core 2! of the roll 20 is a centrally tapped metal insert such as .the insert 22, Fig. 1,

and, for turning the roll 28 by hand on occasion, a

headed stem 23 at each end of the roll extends through the relatively large hole in the respective hollow rivet I5- and is screwed into the respective ""is not mounted upon a typewriter, or against a sheet 24 of copy interposed between the roll and the inner wall of the trough, as in Fig. 3, where the device is shown as heingmounted upon a desk or table, the roll in that case being turned by hand to bring successive lines of copy .into view above theiront edge of the trough.

The lower part-of the front wall of the trough I0 is formed with two, spaced openings 25, 25, a little to the front of its middle plane as seen in Figs. .2 and 3, these openings being so positioned as to permit the paper-bail rollers 26, 26 of the typewriter toextend into the interior of the trough and support the roll, in-conjunction with the back wall of the trough, asseen in Fig. 2, when-the deviceis mounted upon the typewriter withthe bail bar I4 received in the relatively deep notches I3 in the downwardly extended margins of the troughs end-walls II, and with the arms I6 resting upon the paper table I! of the typewriter.

As is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the trough II] is a copy-sheet guide, guiding the copy downward and about the roll 20 and upward from its front side, lines of the copy becoming visible to the operator as they emerge from behind the front wall of the trough.

The Weight of the roll 20 being largely supported by the rollers 26, the latter are adapted to drive the roll 20 as they are driven by rotation of the platen, 21, of the typewriter, with the platen and the roll 20 having the same surface speed. With the device so mounted, a sheet 24 of copy can be fed between the back wall of the trough and the roll 20 and, the coefficient of friction of the rubber-covered roll 20 being greater than that of the inner surface of the trough, turning of the roll 29 by hand feeds the sheet 24 about the [1'01] until tne first line of copy appears above the upper edge of the front wall of the trough.

Such manual rotation of the roll 20 can be effected by lifting the trough slightly to relieve the pressure of the bail rollers 26 against the roll 20, and turning the roll 20 by means of one of the stems 23, the device preferably being reset with the bail bar I4 in the relatively shallow notches i2, which causes the trough H) to hold the roll 20 away from the rollers 26 because the notches i2 are shallow and also because they are farther away from the body of the trough than are the notches 23. Alternatively the sheet 24 can be fed into place by rotating the typewriter platen 21 and thus frictionally driving the roll 20 through the bail rollers 26, the bail bar [4, in this case, being in the deeper notches I3.

Similarly the sheet 24 of copy is automatically stepped ahead the same distance as the paper being typed upon is fed by the step-by-step rotation of the platen as the typing proceeds.

To avoid scraping of the copy sheet 24 on sharp edges the front and rear sides of the openings 25 preferably are defined by outwardly curved margins 25a, 25a, 25b, 25b.

If it is desired, on occasion, to substitute manual for automatic rotation of the roll 20 it is necessary only to shift the device so that the bar 14 is received in the shallow notches l2 and feed the copy sheet 24 by means of one of the stems 23.

I preferably employ a trough-like member for maintaining the roll 20 in position for its weight to be sustained chiefly by the bail rollers 26, and when a trough is so employed the lower portion of its inner surface preferably is curved on a radius substantially greater than that of the outer surface ofthe roll 20 and the notches 13 are so positioned and of such depth, and the arms I6 are set at such angular position, that, while the trough or casing is supported chiefly by the bail bar 14, the rollers 26 will hold the roll 20 slightly away from the front wall of the casing, stability of the roll 20 being provided by its bearing against the back wall of the casing, or an intervening copy sheet, at 28, and stability of the casing being provided by contact of the arms 16 with the paper table 11. The amount of the weight of the roll 20 to be supported by the bail rollers 26 can be varied by setting the arms IS with their detents I8 in different ones of the dimples I9, and in this way also the device can be adapted for use on different typewriters.

While I prefer to employ the paper table for 4 stabilizing the casing, my invention is not wholly limited to that feature, nor to the particular rollstabilizing means here shown. Various modifications are possible within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

I. A copy-holder for use with a typewriter having a paper-supporting and feeding platen and a paper-bail having rollers thereon engaging and driven by paper on the platen, said copy-holder comprising a frame, a copy-sheet feeding roll rotatably mounted on said frame and engageable with the paper-bail rollers, the frame comprising spaced abutments for engaging a part of the typewriter to hold the said frame in position for the said sheet-feeding roll to rest upon and be driven by the said paper-bail rollers, and a copysheet guide supported on said frame in sheetguiding relation to said copy-sheet feeding roll.

2. A copy-holder as defined in claim 1 in which the defined abutments are shaped to support the copy-holder, by their contact with the typewriter, in stable equilibrium against gravity upon simple presentation of the copy-holder to the typewriter, the said abutments also being formed with downwardly open notches for receiving the paper-bail of the typewriter to positon the copyholder thereon.

3. A copy-holder as defined in claim 1 in which the defined abutments are shaped to support the copy-holder, by their contact with the typewriter, in stable equilibrium against gravity upon simple presentation of the copy-holder to the typewriter, the said abutments also being formed with downwardly open notches for receiving the paper-bail of the typewriter to position the copyholder thereon, with its defined copy-sheet feeding roll in driven relation to the paper-bail rollers, and with shallower downwardly open notches for so receiving the paper-bail to hold the copysheet feeding roll at a higher position, out of driven relation to the paper-bail rollers.

CLAIR G. HOOVER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 802,717 Stevens Oct. 24, 1905 837,001 Slife Nov. 27, 1906 1,009,455 Utsch Nov. 21, 1911 1,285,242 Kruegar Nov. 19, 1918 1,765,306 Harris June 17, 1930 1,873,744 Dubois Aug. 23, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 564,028 France Oct. 11, 1923 

